This is the revised layout for the retail redevelopment proposed southwest of Routes 2 and 615 in Mentor.
Submitted

Plans for the first phase of a retail redevelopment at a high-profile Mentor corner are moving forward.

On May 4, the city Planning Commission will consider a preliminary site plan request for the first building on 20 acres southwest of Routes 2 and 615.

Pepper Pike-based Visconsi Companies, Ltd. seeks to build a 55,000-square-foot grocery store with a drive-thru pharmacy at the north end of the development. The layout also indicates six outlots and an area designated as Phase II.

The original concept plan for the development — for which voters approved rezoning in 2015 — had included an 87,000-square-foot grocery store, a 45,000-square-foot fitness club and an 8,400-square-foot multitenant retail center.

The project is still viewed as a “game changer” by Ronald M. Traub, Mentor economic and community development director.

“While we don’t know who the tenants are, this redevelopment will result in improved traffic movement on and off the site, and present an attractive array of establishments along Center Street and Tyler Boulevard,” he said.

Access to the development will be via three driveways, two of which are proposed to be signalized.

The applicant has provided a trip generation study addressing estimated generated traffic during the peak morning and evening hours. The development is expected to add 438 new trips from 7 to 9 a.m. and 665 new trips from 4 to 6 p.m.

Following overwhelming support at the polls for the rezoning — from heavy manufacturing to general business — Visconsi Vice President of Development Bradley Goldberg said he hoped to have the preliminary site plan ready for the commission last spring.

“We’re very excited about putting this project together in the city of Mentor,” he said at the time.

An attempt to reach Goldberg for new information was unsuccessful.

Traub wasn’t surprised by the development’s delay.

“The project involves several existing property owners, several prospective tenants, financing and environmental studies, among other pieces that had to come together,” he said.

It still has a ways to go. The overall development will require a road vacation of Kelly Drive right-of-way to be reviewed and approved by both the Planning Commission and City Council. The road vacation will need to be recorded prior to any subdivision plat.

In addition, the drive-thru window will require a conditional-use permit as part of final site plan approval.